Account Charged Off for $2

[captainmac1]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

My spouse purchased a vehicle financed by a company, now owned by Santander. The experience was horrible so it was a relief when we finally made the last payment in November. He paid over the phone and the lady congratulated him on making his last payment.

She informed us that all that was owed was late fees. We wouldn't have that amount in a lump sum so we informed her that we might not be able to pay that until tax return time. She informed us that no more late fees could be incurred because the principle + interest had been paid. Fast forward until now, (after paying the late fees) we are surprised to find that after pulling his credit report that Santander has been reporting to the credit bureaus that he was late for 148 days because we hadn't paid $2. They also reported that the account has been charged off for $2. We just received a letter (from Santander) that the account was paid in full - settled for less than owed.

We are trying to repair our credit and we hope to buy a home in a year, but this company has really been putting us through the ringer!

After making the last payment with a live person, can they really say that we neglected to pay $2 when she quoted what needed to be paid?

What can we do in regards to fixing this situation on the credit report?

 

[swalsh411]

So are you saying you were not in fact delinquent by two dollars or that you were but think it's unreasonable to report you as late for such a small amount?

 

[captainmac1]

Not delinquent

We were not late $2. That's exactly why we paid over the phone, so we would no exactly what the last payment was. She told him the amount and then proceeded to take his credit card info over the phone.

It doesn't make since to pay $504 if we owed $506!

There's a class action lawsuit against this company and very bad reviews and complaints.

We just want to get past it with a lesson learned, but around every corner there's something else popping up with this company.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

1. File for a dispute of the debt with each credit agency. They will temporarily remove it pending followup from Santander. I doubt they will and it will disappear.

If that does not work...

2. File a response to the credit report ding, highlighting that you paid off the amount you were told and they released the title. Reference the $2 as an obvious error on their part, that they refuse to remove.